– Marc Gafni’s friends, collaborators, and supporters speak out for the sake of restoring integrity. This statement by Concerned Integralists on the Lack of Fair Process in the Marc Gafni Attacks was first posted as a comment to the Center for Integral Wisdom statement on centerforintegralwisdom.org. You can read the statement below or listen to the audio. –
In light of recent stories written about Marc Gafni, we have become very concerned with how old allegations against Gafni have been handled by the integral and spiritual community at large — especially those associated with The Shift Network.
Whenever there is an accused and an accuser in any allegations (especially of this weight), there must be a fair process to achieve justice and respect the validity of any conclusions. This is the sine qua non of fairness — in all realms including legal, relational, social, political, and spiritual.
For a community that claims to be integral and interested in peace and healing, how the allegations against Marc Gafni have been handled in the press and on the Internet is atrocious. We know for a fact that Gafni, via respected teachers and leaders, has offered numerous times to meet with the head of the Shift Network in a mediated context and was consistently refused. This travesty serves neither the accused nor the accuser in any manner of integrity and does not bring legitimate truths into a fair space where informed judgments can be made. At this point, sadly, the attackers may be so unable to take responsibility for their excesses that a fair meeting is almost impossible.
In situations such as these, truth is what clears the path to legitimate justice for all involved. For people to be taking sides and trashing another human being’s reputation in the Internet space and through public statements of disavowal is to us not at all worthy of a so-called consciously evolving community.
It is viscerally appalling what has transpired in the last few weeks, both in the narratives of the New York Times (the purported newspaper of record) and The Shift Network. This includes the signatories (many of whom we had previously respected and supported) to its public statement of the petition against Marc Gafni and Whole Foods Market. This might be expected of a less evolved community, not the one The Shift Network aspires to be. It is particularly troubling as so many of these people are financially dependent on the Shift Network, and none of them contacted Marc or his team for a response to these claims.
Having supported it in the past, we find that the Shift Network itself needs to shift in its understanding of fact-checking, corroboration, and transparency. Until this is done, all we see in this public drama is childish, undeveloped egos at play — perhaps for financial and personal gain.
The supposedly evolved community that is participating in this witch hunt needs to Grow Up and Clean Up before it can Show Up as arbiters of justice — especially if it is truly trying to protect the aggrieved and vulnerable.
Many people will attest to Marc’s unselfish commitment to the dharma, as well as his powerful leadership, engaging charisma, and huge heart. In our own personal interactions with him, we can certainly do the same.
But how we feel about Marc Gafni is secondary. What’s primary is whether fair process is being honored. And it most definitely is not.
If this is what constitutes “accelerating the next evolution,” who would want to continue to support this?
Spirit must be both laughing and weeping at the irony.
– Concerned Integralists